Former Phillies Prospect Dealt for Cliff Lee Diagnosed with Leukemia

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Former Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect RHP Carlos Carrasco has announced he has been diagnosed with leukemia.

The Phillies dealt Carrasco, now 32, to the Cleveland Indians nearly 10 years ago — July 29, 2009 — along with Jason Donald, Lou Marson and minor leaguer Jason Knapp. In return, the Phillies received Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco.

Since debuting with the Indians in 2009, Carrasco has gone 83-68 with a 3.78 ERA and 1.191 WHIP spanning 219 games and 183 starts,. In 2017, the right-hander led the majors with 18 wins, en route to a fourth-place finish in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Also, Carrasco led the majors last season in complete games (2), and also leads this season in shutouts (1).

The Barquisimeto, Venezuela, native has not pitched since the end of May; he was placed on the injured list on June 5 after feeling lethargic for "several weeks." Carrasco underwent tests, which revealed abnormally high plate levels, before being diagnosed with the disease shortly after.

Carrasco's leukemia is "under control," and he intends to return to playing baseball eventually.

We wish Carrasco a healthy and speedy recovery.

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